Christmas

FRIENDLY FILL-INS FEATURING SAWYER

Friendly Fill-Ins: Week 86

1. On New Year’s Eve, I try to stay awake until midnight to see the ball drop in Time’s Square on television. Dad Tom usually is already sleeping.

2. One goal I have for 2018 is to comment each week on the posts of all the Sunday Selfies hoppers.

3. In 2017, I accomplished finding the majority of my classmates for our 50th high school reunion.

4. I started riding a Peloton in 2017.

I have no photos to accompany this post, as I am pretty certain you are not interested in photos from my reunion. So, I am including another photo from Christmas. Sawyer and Cooper Murphy were the only two of the kitties who had any interest in Christmas.

 

Friendly Fill-Ins: Week #86

 

Friendly Fill-Ins are hosted each week by Ellen (15 Ad Meowing) and Annie (McGuffy’s Reader), who also select the sentences for completion. This is a blog hop which you can join by clicking on their badge. It will take you to McGuffy’s Reader, where you can enter the link to your post.

QUIET, PLEASE!

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday

We kitties had a terribly difficult time creating a poem this week. We had this gorgeous photo, selected by Mom Pam and angel Sammy, as our inspiration. Regardless, our poetic abilities fizzled.

 

Kitties prefer quiet.

 

Quiet, Please!

Fireworks are extremely pretty,
Unless you are a sensitive kitty.
The booming loud noises
Never cease to annoy us.
All the people oohing and ahhing
Just causes our frantic ear pawing.
As humans seem to enjoy the show,
Under the bed we all plan to go
And not come out until it’s 2018,
When we can return to our regular routine.

© Kitties Blue 12/27/2017

We must apologize to Teddy and angel Sammy for this feeble excuse for a poem. If you go to Two Spoiled Cats, by clicking on the badge below, we know you will find an expertly crafted poem by angel Sam. You will also find links to other poems among the comments.

Thankful Thursday

This section is lots easier today, and wow are we thankful for that. We also are grateful for all the holiday cards we have received from our friends, which we will share in a few days. We received lots of new toys, wrapping paper, tissue and boxes. As with the greeting cards, we will be showing you some of our gifts in a future post. But just to give you a bit of a preview, here’s a photo of Sawyer and Cooper Murphy enjoying Christmas.

 

Kitties prefer quiet.

 

Thankful Thursday is a blog hop hosted by Brian. To join in, click on his badge.

 

 

Thanks for dropping by to see us.

Purrs and paw-pats, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo, Cooper Murphy and Sawyer

HOLIDAY SPARK

Sparks: Week #12

 

Holiday - Sparks blog hop

 

Wishing all those who celebrate Christmas a blessed day.

 

Sparks is a weekly blog hop established and hosted by Annie at McGuffy’s Reader. In establishing the hop, she wrote this, “I believe we are meant to be lights in this world. If we allow our light to shine, we can see where we are going. It is then that we can begin to truly see each other clearly. Together, we can light up the entire world!”

If you’d like to join the hop, click on the Sparks badge.

 

Birthday Wishes

Today is not only Christmas but also the birthday of a very special cat mom. Kitties Blue and I are sending her our very best wishes and love. (Please stop by and wish her a happy birthday.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MOM BARB, THE MOTHER OF MARVELOUS AND ANGEL NELLIE! MAY YOUR DAY BE FILLED WITH LOVE!

TOO CLOSE?

Sunday Selfies: Week: #176

 

 

Sawyer's Christmas-themed selfie.

 

Here we are at Christmas Eve already. I’m not exactly certain what this holiday is all about; though, I do know gifts are involved. Kitties Blue have already gotten some from Mom and Dad that were too big to wrap. And we got some from Tom’s nephew, Chuck, and his family. Everything else we must wait until tomorrow to open.

Anyhoo, I volunteered to do the Christmas selfie. It does appear as if I might have gotten a little too close to the camera lens, but I am still learning.

We know everyone is super busy, but we sure are hoping some of our regulars will hop with us today. If you’d like to post a holiday-themed selfie that would be great.

Here’s some pointers on hopping with us if you need them.

  • The link to add your selfie to the hop is below.
  • You also will find below the code to use if you’d like the hop to appear on your blog.
  • Posting on Sundays is not necessary to join.
  • You do not need to be a cat to enter. All anipals are welcome regardless of species.
  • The hop remains open for entries through Thursday midnight.
  • Please be so kind as to display our badge and/or link to The Cat on My Head.

Thanks for hopping. Wishing you a Meowy Christmas and Happy Mew Year.

Flashback: Christmas 2013

A few days ago we were reading a friend’s blog, Momma Kat and Her Bear Cat. Bear is a very cheeky snd somewhat egocentric cat, and he wrote his own “12 Days of Bear-mas.” This reminded us that somewhere in the archives was our own version of the this often parodied song, “The 12 Days of Christmas.” If you need a giggle or two, read on. Mauricio actually wrote this for Cat Scouts, when he was just a lowly Bobcat. We present this with apologies to our friends, Da Tabbies O Trout Towne.

THE 12 DAYS OF CATMESS

On the first day of Catmess my true love gave to me, a partridge with some nip tea.

On the second day of Catmess my true love gave to me, two turtle stews and a partridge with some nip tea.

On the third day of Catmess, my true love gave to me, three fried hens, two turtle stews and a partridge with some nip tea.

On the fourth day of Catmess my true love gave to me four broiled birds, three fried hens, two turtle stews and a partridge with some nip tea.

On the fifth day of Catmess, my true love gave to me, five pheasant wings, four broiled birds, three fried hens, two turtle stews and a partridge with some nip tea.

On the sixth day of Catmess, my true love gave to me, six geese in gravy, five pheasant wings, four broiled birds, three fried hens, two turtle stews and a partridge with some nip tea.

On the seventh day of Catmess, my true love gave to me, seven swans-a-simmering, six geese in gravy, five pheasant wings, four broiled birds, three fried hens, two turtle stews and a partridge with some nip tea.

On the eighth day of Catmess, my true love gave to me, eight squirrel Schnitzels, seven swans-a-simmering, six geese in gravy, five pheasant wings, four broiled birds, three fried hens, two turtle stews and a partridge with some nip tea.

On the ninth day of Catmess, my true love gave to me, nine lox for licking, eight squirrel Schnitzels, seven swans-a-simmering, six geese in gravy, five pheasant wings, four broiled birds, three fried hens, two turtle stews and a partridge with some nip tea.

On the tenth day of Catmess, my true love gave to me, ten bugs in butter, nine lox for licking, eight squirrel Schnitzels, seven swans-a-simmering, six geese in gravy, five pheasant wings, four broiled birds, three fried hens, two turtle stews and a partridge with some nip tea.

On the eleventh day of Catmess, my true love gave to me, eleven prawns with pasta, ten bugs in butter, nine lox for licking, eight squirrel Schnitzels, seven swans-a-simmering, six geese in gravy, five pheasant wings, four broiled birds, three fried hens, two turtle stews and a partridge with some nip tea.

On the twelfth day of Catmess, my true love gave to me, twelve rodents roasting, eleven prawns with pasta, ten bugs in butter, nine lox for licking, eight squirrel Schnitzels, seven swans-a-simmering, six geese in gravy, five pheasant wings, four broiled birds, three fried hens, two turtle stews and a partridge with some nip tea.

© Bobcat Mauricio Blue
December 2013

 

Purrs and paw-pats, Sawyer

 



CHRISTMAS CARD ART AND FILL-INS

Caturday Art

For those of you who did not receive one or more of our holiday cards via snail mail, we are sharing them here for today’s art submission. I do have a few more cards ready to mail, but please feel free to grab a card now.

The first card is the one from Kitties Blue. Astrid is the featured cat. This was actually created from Caturday Art that we posted last year.

 

Kitties Blue 2017 Christmas card.

 

This card is the one that Cat Scouts Mauricio and Cooper Murphy sent to their Cat Scout pals.

 

Cooper Murphy and Mauricio's Cat Scout Christmas card.

 

This final card is Lily Olivia’s Crotchety Cougar card.

 

Lily Olivia's Crotchety Cougars Christmas card.

 

We will be entering Athena Cat Goddess Wise Kitty’s Caturday Art Blog Hop with our first card. If you’d like to join or find links to art created by other bloggers, click on her badge.

Friendly Fill-Ins

As promised yesterday, we are doing our fill-ins today. Yesterday we reviewed a new product from PetSafe®. If you missed it, the link for that post is at the bottom of this one.

1. I can’t wait to see my friend of more than 30 years, Mary Jane, open my gift to her. Unfortunately I won’t, as she will open her gifts Christmas morning with her family. She is getting several gifts from me, and I know she is going to love all of them. Each was selected with love and care.

2. I have had the same house for 33-plus years.

3. I would not mind if Santa were to bring me a sunny day with the temperature in the 60s. I am going to get that wish for the next couple of days. Christmas Day, however, is predicted to be only 38 degrees.

4. On Christmas Eve, I always would celebrate my grandpa’s birthday with the rest of the family, until I moved away in 1972. The kitties’ dad and I really have no specific Christmas Eve tradition. Sometimes we will go out to dinner at a favorite restaurant. We haven’t planned that for this year.

Ellen at 15 And Meowing and Annie from McGuffy’s Reader create and host Friday Fill-Ins. It is a blog hop. To join in, click on the badge below.

Sunday Selfies Reminder

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and we suspect most of you will be busy, but we are hoping you’ll still join us for Sunday Selfies. Our selfie will be Christmas-themed. Not only that, but it will be a doozy as well…one you don’t want to miss seeing. So, paste a smile on your face and hop on over tomorrow.

 

LETTER TO SANTA CLAWS

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday

We are begging forgiveness this week from Teddy and Angel Sammy for going off-script with our poem this week. This is the photo for which we were challenged to create a poem.

 

 

We thought it was pretty depressing for the week prior to Christmas. And we really wanted to reshare this poem, which we originally wrote and posted for Christmas 2014.

 A Cat’s Letter to Santa Claws

Santa
Oh dearest Santa, I promise I’ve been good.
Always used my litter box and eaten all my food.
That broken lamp was a minor transgression.
I don’t think it required that time-out session.
And it wasn’t I who shred the arm of that chair.
Besides, isn’t that why they come as a pair?
The hairball on the human’s pillow didn’t come from me.
I don’t have floofy furs, as you can plainly see.
And all that litter spread throughout the house hither to yon…
It sprang right out of the box long after I had gone.
And you know that sandwich the human left on the table…
I swear it was stolen by a stray mouse named Mabel.
And the Christmas tree that suddenly toppled over…
Was not pushed by me but a marauding gopher.
I have no idea how these critters invaded my space.
I never leave the cat door open or out of place.
Oh. dearest Santa, I’ve truly never ever been naughty.
So please bring me some toys from Jackson Galaxy.
And a big bag of nip to last a whole year…
Please, oh please, oh please Santa dear.
And some nommy treats would be totally pawsome.
I’d eat every one and not leave a crumb.
For I, the cat, have been as good as a cat can be.
So please don’t pass me by this Christmas Eve.
If you’ll stop by my house once again this year,
I promise to leave cookies and a bit of good cheer beer.
And as to next year, I raise my right paw
And promise to be a good cat, oh dear Santa Claws.
Yours truly, The Cat

So now you know what happened yesterday…a marauding gopher! If you missed yesterday’s post, the link is at the bottom of this post.

We also are sharing this today, as on Mondays we participate in the Sparks blog hop at McGuffy’s Reader, which we think is a good thing for sharing on Christmas Day.

We are joining Thoroughly Poetic Thursday at Two Spoiled Cats. To read Sammy’s poem, which he transmits each week from the Rainbow Bridge, click on his badge. You also will find links in the comments to other blogs with poems.

 

Thankful Thursday

We also are joining Brian’s Thankful Thursday blog hop. Our “thankful” was easy to select this week. No one got in trouble yesterday for the little “oopsie.” And it was not reported to Santa,

If you’d like to tell everyone for what you are thankful, join the blog hop by clicking on Brian’s badge.

 

Purrs and paw-pats, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo, Cooper Murphy and Sawyer

 

CHRISTMAS SECRET PAWS

Secret Paws 2017

As we have since we began blogging, we are participating in the Secret Paws gift exchange. This is coordinated by Truffle and Brulee’s mom, Paula, from Sweet Purrfections. We are most appreciative for her hard work in gathering all the information and assigning the Secret Paws.

 

Since it is a secret, we cannot tell you where or to whom we sent our gifts. And we have no idea what Mom sent, as we were not allowed to help with the wrapping for obvious reasons: 1) ripping the paper; 2) getting tape stuck in our furs; 3) chewing on ribbons; 4) trying to steal the gifts for ourselves and 5) spilling our guts and letting everyone know what we sent.

So here are some rather boring (and bad) photos of our wrapped gifts.

 

2017 Secret Paws Gifts

2017 Secret Paws Gifts

 

We have no idea who our Secret Paws is, as we have not received our gift yet. But Christmas is still six days away, and Mom won’t let us open our gifts until Christmas Day, so we aren’t worried about it. We’ll let you know all about our gift after Christmas as well as where we sent our package.

We told Mom that the Hello Kitty wrapping paper wasn’t a good enough cat representation for this post. So, here is our gratuitous kitten-in-a-box photo.

 

2017 Secret Paws Gifts

 

Last night was the first night Sawyer was not confined to the living room. When we went to sleep, he was sleeping on a pile of pillows atop the antique trunk at the end of Mom and Dad’s bed. You’ll have to wait until Thursday to find out how that experiment worked out, as tomorrow we’ll be wordless.

Purrs and paw-pats, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo, Cooper Murphy and Sawyer

 

 

 

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES

Friendly Fill-Ins: Week #82

We are back again with more holiday-themed fill-ins. Kitties Blue asked me to complete all four this week. As I always do, I’ve used teal italics for my completions.

1. Snow is beautiful when it is falling, but I want it all to melt before it turns grimy and ugly.

2. I enjoy decorating everything with white lights at Christmas. They glow makes me happy.

3. One holiday memory that I cherish is the year my grandparents gave me a pogo stick for Christmas. My grandpa got on and “pogoed” himself right into the juniper bushes.

4. I always thought that Santa gifts were the best. That’s where all the fun stuff could be found…crayons, silly putty, pick-up sticks, jacks and slinkies!

Neither Dad Tom nor I have taken any photos as yet of this year’s decorations. And we didn’t decorate last year, as my heart was not in it after Fiona’s passing. Because of that, I am sharing some past Christmas photos that you may or may not have seen. They are from 1950, 1966, 2012 and 2015.

 

Christmas Memories

 

Friendly Fill-Ins is a weekly blog hop hosted by friends, Ellen (15 And Meowing) and Annie (McGuffy’s Reader). If you’d like to participate, you can find the fill-in sentences on their blogs each Thursday. After you complete your post, you can enter the hop on Annie’s blog. Click on the badge below to go to McGuffy’s Reader.

 

VISIONS OF SUGAR PLUMS MOUSIES

Caturday Art

We know that Christmas is just a bit more than two weeks away, but in our opinion, it’s a tad too soon for our Caturday Art to resemble a Christmas card. Obviously, our mom does not agree. What do you think…too soon?

 

Christmas Art

 

Dad discovered Cooper Murphy collapsed and deep in sleep in a living room chair yesterday afternoon. His morning had been totally chaotic with Sawyer constantly following close on his heels and trying to coerce him into playing. Cooper seemed fine with all the activity, but he needed a restorative nap midday (as did Sawyer).

To create today’s art, Mom used the Spectrum effect from the Painnt app and manipulated the hue to get the green and red colors. The gift boxes and frame were added with picMonkey.

Here’s the original photo of tuckered out Cooper Murphy.

The arty version is our entry in Athena Cat Goddess Wise Kitty’s Caturday Art blog hop. If you’d like to see a variety of other art entries and/or submit a creation of you own, click on Athena’s badge.

Christmas Cards

Since we mentioned that our art looks like a holiday card, we want to let you know that Mom is busily working on addressing Lily Olivia’s Crotchety Cougar card, Mau and Cooper Murphy’s Cat Scout card and our Kitties Blue card. She expects to have them all in the mail the first of the week. We will post them all here for Caturday Art on the 23rd.

Sunday Selfie Early Warning

Tomorrow is the day we look forward to all week, as it’s when we get to see the smiling faces of all our friends. So, we are reminding you to snap your selfie and join us tomorrow for our blog hop.

Purrs & paw-pats, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo, Cooper Murphy and Sawyer